ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: In this study, highly aligned polyurethane fibers with potential application as scaffold in tissue engineering were fabricated using a simple dry spinning technique assisted by an electrical field. Morphology study shows that the fibers have an average diameter of 2.80 ± 0.06 μm without any observable bead. Subsequently, mechanical characterizations were conducted to study the mechanical responses of these fibers. Three uniaxial mechanical tests were conducted: monotonic, cyclic and relaxation tensile tests at the strain rate of 0.001 s−1. Complex mechanical responses such as anisotropy, toe region, hysteresis, stress softening, residual deformation, and stress relaxation are found in these polyurethane elastomeric microfibers. Furthermore, it is highlighted that amount of hysteresis increases with the maximum strain, whereas stress relaxation is faster at a higher strain.
